What is that goo that accumulates in the inner corner of one’s eye?
Well, it is called Rheum and is it is thin mucus which during sleep is naturally discharged from the eyes, mouth or nose. Henceforth I shall refer to ‘Rheum’ as ‘sleeping dust’ as the latter is so much nicer on the ears. When sleeping dust dries it gathers as a crust in the corners of the mouth or eyes, under the nose, or on the eyelids.
What’s in it?
It is definately not a r4i gold card! Sleeping dust is comprised of mucus, dust, skin cells, blood cells and nasal mucus.
Other names for it?
Many others have also sought other ways of referring to ‘Rheum’ such as; eye boogers, sleep, sleepy sand, gound, or eye gunk.
Why do I only get it at night?
When awake, the eyelid’s blinking causes sleeping dust to get washed away with the tears from the nasolacrimal duct. When sleeping, the absence of blinking leads a small amount of dry sleeping dust to accumulate in the corners of the eyes.